A bibliometric profile of optogenetics: quantitative and qualitative analyses

Area of Science:

• Optogenetics research spans multiple scientific disciplines, including neuroscience, biochemistry, molecular biology, neuroimaging, and materials science.

Background:

• Optogenetics, a fusion of optics and genetics, offers significant potential in neuroscience and related fields.
• A bibliometric analysis was lacking to understand the publication landscape of optogenetics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a bibliometric analysis of optogenetics publications.
• To identify publication trends, key contributors, and research areas in optogenetics.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative analysis of publications from the Web of Science Core Collection.
• Qualitative analysis including co-occurrence network, thematic, and theme evolution analysis.

Main Results:

• A total of 6,824 publications were analyzed, showing rapid growth since 2010 (52.82% annual growth rate).
• The United States and China are leading contributors, with prolific authors including Deisseroth K, Boyden ES, and Hegemann P.
• Key research areas include optogenetic components and techniques, applications in neural circuitry, and disease intervention, with publications in high-impact journals like Nature, Science, and Cell.

Conclusions:

• Optogenetics research is flourishing and expanding.
• Future research will likely focus on optogenetic techniques for neural circuitry exploration and disease treatment.
• Optogenetics is poised to remain a significant and evolving field.